Tom – Page 95 – Random Connections

The Curse of the Review

February 21, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 5 Comments

Restaurants

While driving down Wade Hampton Boulevard on my way home from work I noticed that one of the restaurants I had reviewed, Campobello Italian, had closed. When that happens, I usually add the phrase, “NOTE: This restaurant has closed.” to the first line of the review. So, I added it to that review, then I … Read More “The Curse of the Review” »

More on Chappells

February 20, 2013 Tom 5 Comments

My how time flies. Hard to believe that it’s been two years since Alan and I first explored the ghost town of Chappells, SC. We made our exploration after a paddling trip on the Saluda River, and I did a follow-up post on the history of the town.

Last year fellow explorer Mark Elbrecht visited the town during winter, and was able to get some clearer photographs of the ruins.

One other item Mark found was a photograph of the old Chappells Depot from an article in the Newberry Observer…

As we walked down the old main street and looked at the ruins on our visit, I wondered if any other photographs existed of the town in its heyday. Apart from Mark’s discovery of the depot photo, I had not seen any other photos of the old town. That all changed this past week.

Music for the Soul

February 17, 2013 Tom 1 Comment

Entertainment, Music

Today the Greenville Chorale Chamber Ensemble presents its winter concert at Furman’s Daniel Chapel. The program is entitled “Music for the Soul”, and the music was chosen to be both soothing and uplifting. We start the concert with Gabriel Faure’s Requiem as the major work on the piece. I’ve performed this piece several times, and … Read More “Music for the Soul” »

GoPro on Lake Robinson

February 12, 2013 Tom 4 Comments

Gear, Paddling, Photography

It’s been a tough winter. I hadn’t been out on my kayaks in a long time, and I missed a great Lowcountry Unfiltered trip on Saturday. I needed to get out on the water. So, Sunday morning before the rains started, Laura kicked me out the door with my touring boat and pointed me in the direction of Lake Robinson. The plan was to give the GoPro camera a shake down and make sure it would do everything it promised.

I chose Lake Robinson over the other local paddling venues quite frankly because it’s boring. The scenery from the park is spectacular with the mountains in the background, but once you get out on the water your only view is of the housing developments that ring the lake. Granted, there are interesting birds, and if you just want to get out and paddle it’s fine. However, nearby Lake Cunningham has much more to see with its lily fields and other quirks.

Yet, this suited me perfectly. I was here to test the new camera, and if it didn’t work correctly, I didn’t want to be disappointed that I’d failed to get a shot. I had my Fuji waterproof camera and Panasonic Lumix as back-ups, but the GoPro was the focus of the mission.

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Street View Time Lapse

February 2, 2013 Tom No Comments

Geocaching and Maps, Internet, Photography, Weirdness

I’ve been enjoying creating time-lapse videos while driving. Unfortunately, I’ve just been driving back and forth to work or rehearsal, so the scenery doesn’t change much.

So while I was looking at Google Earth the other day it occurred to me – I could use the images from Street View to create the same type of time-lapse.

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MLK Day Photography

January 23, 2013 Tom No Comments

Photography

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a day off for me. In years past I’ve tried to get out and take some photos. Sometimes it’s been a local trip, and sometimes we have ranged farther. This year taking a longer trek was out of the question, so I stayed close by. Turns out I had a full day of photography, with lots to learn along the way. I’ll break it into three parts…

Falls Park Time-Lapse

Laura and I had appointments in the morning, and I wanted to watch the Obama inauguration around noon. So, it wasn’t until early afternoon that I was able to set off. I’ve got a hair-brained idea for doing a series of time-lapse videos around Greenville, and I wanted to shoot some proof-of-concept videos to test the waters. I headed down to Falls Park and the River Place area.

LCU vs Manchester, Part 3

January 19, 2013 Tom No Comments

Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography

So far our crew from Lowcountry Unfiltered had breakfast at Battens in Wedgefield, visited the cemetery of a deranged governor, hiked part of the Palmetto trail and discovered an old railroad junction, and we were just getting started.

Manchester and Melrose

We got back to our vehicles and headed to the location of the ghost town of Manchester. The town died out with the demise of the Wilmington and Manchester railroad. All that remains are a few rural houses. We paused briefly, and left in search of a more interesting section of Manchester.

Nearby is a marking indicating the location of Melrose Plantation. Built in the late 1700s, the plantation was owned by Matthew Singleton, whose cemetery we had visited earlier in the day. We stopped at the marker and took a look around. There were a few foundation stones, and the twisted remains of a metal bed. Unfortunately the bed appeared to be more of modern than pre-Civil War origin.

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LCU vs Manchester, Part 2

January 19, 2013 Tom 2 Comments

Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

We had loaded up with breakfast at Battens in Wedgefield, and now it was time to go exploring. There were eleven us, divided over three vehicles. Luckily, I had three FRS radios so we could coordinate our travels. So, we set off.

We got off the main highway, and as we entered Manchester State Forest the pavement just kind of gave out. We road on a fairly fast clip, past forested areas and farmland, most of it with “Posted. No Tresspassing” signs.

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LCU vs Manchester

January 16, 2013 Tom No Comments

History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling, Restaurants

It sounds like a collegiate soccer game. We had about enough people with us to field a team. However, in truth it was Lowcountry Unfiltered’s Second Saturday outing. This being January, it was time for our annual Swamp Stomp, and we were off to tackle a section of the Wateree Passage of the Palmetto Trail through Manchester State Park.

Our outing would take us through ghost towns, cemeteries, and the site of Civil War destruction at the hands of Colonel Edward Potter. This was truly and epic outing, and the only way to do it justice is to break it into sections, so consider this Part 1.

Keith met me at the house far too early for a Saturday. Along the way down we picked up Alan and Dwight, so I had a car full. The Upstate would be well-represented on this trip.

We had a fairly loose agenda, but our plan was to meet for breakfast then explore the area. Here’s a quick rundown of the trip…

Tactical Macramé

January 11, 2013 Tom 2 Comments

Gear

Back when I was a cub scout one of our crafty things to do was to make lanyards from bits of plastic strips. Tandy Leather sold (and still sells) the stuff by the spool. I got pretty good at various braids, and made several lanyards that never really got used.

Fast forward 40+ years…

Braiding with strips of stuff is back. It even made its way into 2004’s Napoleon Dynamite…

Deb: Well, maybe you’d be interested in some home-woven handicrafts?

Deb: … And here we have some boondoggle key chains. A must-have for this season’s fashion.
Napoleon Dynamite: I already made like infinity of those at scout camp.

This season’s fashion, though, uses parachute cord, aka 550 paracord instead of plastic stripping. The height of fashion seems to be the “survival bracelet”. I had seen these at outfitter stores, and even at the occasional quick stop shop, but didn’t pay much attention until I was given one at the EdTech conference back in October. I’ve been wearing mine since then, more as an uplifting reminder than for any need for an emergency supply of parachute cord.

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